Womble Carlyle attorney Alfred Adams (’73) has been named a 2011 winner of the Citizen Lawyer Award by the North Carolina Bar Association. The Citizen Lawyer Award honors exemplary community service among members of North Carolina’s legal community.

Throughout his more than 30-year career as a commercial real estate attorney, Adams has been devoted to making Winston-Salem, particularly the city’s downtown area, a better place to live and work. Adams’ work includes numerous civic projects that have strengthened Winston-Salem’s central core.

For example, Adams is a long-time member of the Board of Directors of the Downtown Winston-Salem Partnership, the entity responsible for downtown revitalization efforts. He also served as Chair of the Downtown Winston-Salem Partnership, which provides low-interest loans to small businesses in the downtown region.

One key project that Adams has been involved with is the Piedmont Triad Research Park in Winston-Salem. The biotech center, which is still growing, is bringing thousands of high-paying jobs to the Triad region.

Adams also served as President of the Wake Forest University Alumni Association in 2003-04 and has served in several leadership positions in the United Way of Forsyth County. He is active in Centenary United Methodist Church and is a frequent blood donor to the American Red Cross.

“It is a privilege to practice law, and the perfect way to respond to the privilege is by giving back to others,” Adams said. “When one’s life is over, the ultimate compliment is that, ‘She or he made our profession and community better.’ Life is not about what I have earned in the way of income, but what I have done for others (including my family). There is no greater reward.”